New Legislation Affects Taxi Drivers, Wallingford Cat Cafe and More

New legislation will also help taxi drivers. As you’ve probably heard by now, Uber, Lyft, and other for-hire drivers have been granted the right to unionize—Seattle being the first city to offer this option to drivers. Those working for taxi companies are also expected to benefit from this legislation as it encourages their companies to bargain with their workers. Taxi drivers have already been organized as an association with their own elected drivers to represent them. However, this legislation promises further continuation of their rights to negotiate. 

Cat café is almost here! Seattle’s first ever cat café, Seattle Meowtropolitan, will open its doors in Wallingford this Saturday. Visitors cannot simply show up and expect to play with kitties, though. As of now, you must book a 50-minute reservation online before visiting, which costs $10 and includes a drink from the nearby café. You can bring your drink into the cat room as you play with approximately 10 adoptable kitties. The café will be open from 11-9 p.m. with a break from 3-4 p.m. so the cats can rest. Learn more about Seattle Meowtropolitan—and make a reservation—here. 

Bill Gates Surprises Redditor with Secret Santa Gifts: For this year’s Reddit Secret Santa gift exchange, Bill Gates gave Northwest Redditor, NayaTheNinja, the ultimate gift: a donation in her name to the organization Malaria No More, which is dedicated to wiping out the disease. Gates, who signed up to participate in the exchange for the third year, took the time to get to know his giftee and learned about her love for the outdoors and recent trip to Zambia where she learned about the devastating prevalence of malaria. Gates surprised NayaTheNinja with an abundance of useful gifts, but the donation was by far the most meaningful. She wrote, “I also received some very cool stuff (like seriously rad stuff) but it is, in the end, stuff and the donation will help create a lasting effect on people other than myself.”

How to get the light rail route you need: Light rail additions are coming to Seattle, and The Stranger has compiled a list of contacts you can reach to advocate for your preferred route(s) and/ or stop(s). They note that our city needs a better and more effective transportation option (who wasn’t stuck in this morning’s traffic?), and that there are multiple plans in the works for new light rail routes. If you are interested in learning more about these potential options and want to know who to contact, check out The Stranger’s compilation here.